Marcelo Cano never chose to leave Cuba. The doctor and human rights activist was jailed during the infamous Black Spring crackdown, and when he was released after five years, he was forced into exile in Spain.

Now, two years later, he is on hunger strike, claiming welfare benefits have dried up and the government will not recognize his medical degree.

“I don’t even have money to take the bus,” the doctor says.

He is one of a group of Cubans granted asylum in Spain. But for many of them, the problems of political persecution in their homeland have been exchanged for the economic woes of a capitalist country at the very heart of the financial crisis gripping Europe.

[np-related]

Andrea Comas / Reuters

Reports say the culture shock and hardships have led to tears, street brawls and imprisonment, and even a suicide. Some of the exiles are living on the streets of Madrid, destitute and homeless.

Cuban exiles were sent to Spain as part of a deal brokered between Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop of Havana, and Spain’s former prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Many were among the last prisoners released from the Group of 75 — Cubans arrested in 2003 in a crackdown known as Black Spring,when journalists and human rights activists were jailed for allegedly working for the U.S. Dr. Cano spent five years in prison, accused of being belonging to an illegal human rights group, when a deal was brokered, offering him and his family asylum in Spain. Family pressure forced his decision and in August 2010 he was thrust into the midst of the Spanish economic crisis.

Benefits offered by the government have dried up and Dr. Cano was left renting an apartment he couldn’t afford. Now, four months later, he owes his landlord €2,480 ($3,111) and has no way of paying.

“I’m not on the street, but I’m cheating the owner of the house,” he says.

He has become so desperate, he began a hunger strike last Sunday to protest the time it’s taking the Spanish government to recognize his medical qualifications.

Spain usually supports refugees for six months, but aid can be extended to a year, and in cases of extreme need two years. During this time refugees can find apartments and work legally.

But the country is suffering extremely high unemployment rates and foreigners are particularly affected, says Alejando Gonzalez Raga, another exile.

“The other problem is that the people came straight out of jail without some kind of program to help them adjust to the world outside again, let alone another country,” he says.

Mr. Gonzalez Raga, part of the Group of 75 and exiled in 2008, says he was initially happy to be free and with his family, “but then afterward reality starts to hit you.”

“It happens to everyone that leaves their country,” he says. “You encounter frustration, disenchantment, a sense of loss. But it all comes with the package.”

But he adds, “You also have to understand that you can’t live off help all of your life.”

However, another group of exiles has been camping in front of the Ministry of Exterior Affairs & Cooperation in Madrid for more than 80 days. They hold signs criticizing Cuba’s leaders, Fidel and Raul Castro, Mr. Zapatero and Mr. Ortega, calling the deal that brought them to Spain “macabre and deceitful.”

Desmond Boylan / Reuters

They also accuse the Spanish government of tossing them on the streets,“forsaken and in an extremely vulnerable situation.” Aid has run out, and they claim they haven’t been given sufficient help to adapt to Spanish society.

“All assistance to us has been withdrawn and we have been left on our own without any other shelter from the Spanish streets,” a statement from them reads. “Although we do not wish the government to support us, it is important that the assistance we are due be extended.”

According to them, the government should put into place intensive programs “to guarantee our insertion in to the Spanish society, assist us in obtaining jobs, and help those who have professional careers to [validate] their degrees and diplomas issued in Cuba.”

Omar Rodriguez, another Cuban exile from the Group of 75 who arrived in 2010, believes, “Whatever country you newly arrive in, you’ve got to arrive with the best willingness to work, to progress and remake your life.” But he admits “the best isn’t always what you encounter.”

However, he managed to find a job with the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights in Gijon, a port on the north coast.

As I came here to Spain with my suitcase full of illusion and hope, so I will arrive in the United States

Another exile, Albert Santiago Du Bouchet Hernandez, a dissident journalist who at one point sewed his mouth shut as a part of a hunger strike protesting his incarceration in Cuba, killed himself in Las Palmas in April,according to Reporters Without Borders.

But some nongovernmental organizations in Spain say the Cubans aren’t being treated any differently from other refugees.

Groups like the Spanish Commission for Assistance to Refugees do not get involved with the Cuban exiles because they are being treated the same as refugees from other countries.

David Harvell, who works with the Centre for Cuban Studies in New York and has close contact with many Cubans who immigrate there, believes ability to adjust to a new country depends on the individual.

“I’ve seen people adjust very quickly and I’ve seen people be here decades and not adjust,” he says.

Cubans are often times “better prepared than immigrants from a lot of other developing countries because they have university level educations, they speak foreign languages and so forth.”

Like many Cuban exiles, Dr. Cano and Mr. Rodriguez spoke of their desire to return home one day.

“If liberty came to Cuba, I would return to work there,” Dr. Cano says. For his part, Mr. Rodriguez thanks Spain, but says he may move to the United States. “As I came here to Spain with my suitcase full of illusion and hope, so I will arrive in the United States,” he says.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.